I have both regular bunions and bunionettes. I've had them since I was 15 but only now am I experiencing pain. Well, actually I've probably been experiencing pain from them for even longer, but I just thought my feet were sensitive to certain shoes- but never related it to bunions.

Anyone else have 'em? I've tried spacers/cushions....which are great in regards to preventing blisters and friction but haven't really solved anything. Has anyone had surgery for them? Experiences?

my soul sista ndpittman and i also have bunions- welcome to the cool club!! i only have pain on very rare occasions- usually when i overdo the distance running.my mother has horrible bunions which is why i'm scared-- she had surgery though, and it made a world of difference.

Why is this embarrassing? I don't mean that against you, sweet Rowan, but I do wonder why stupid feets things seem to be embarrassing in some way. I have a bajillion corns an suchlike just now (one got septic recently, even) and yeah, I find it for some reason embarrassing to talk about. Well, I have worse problems than that going on with my feet just now, but on the corns/callouses/bunions malarky stuff... it feels for some reason embarrassing to talk about. And I don't know why. Why is that?

_________________"I will take a drugged, sex-crazed, punk rock commie over Mrs. Thatch any day of the week" - Vantine

i always just think of it as an old lady problem.it kills me when people chalk it off as "girls who are squeezing their feet into uncomfortable shoes get them". I have never worn a non-sensible shoe in my life, especially since while i was growing up, my mother had so many problems and had to have custom shoes done for her, it scared the crepe out of me. come to think of it, she's never worn a non-sensible shoe either. i'm pretty sure men get bunions too but don't hear such silliness.....sorry, i'll get myself into the feminist thread presently.

anyway, i have been using a yoga-toes type thing after ndpittman mentioned something about yoga toes. i work at home most of the time and have a lot of idle sitting time when i can use it. it doesn't do much but i feel like i'm doing something good.

Hey, girl, hey! I agree about the toe spacers. I used one and then taped it a bit for support, and that seemed to help, but I'm pretty lazy. I like the yoga toes, but yeah, I'm not sure if it's actually doing anything. Mine did get worse from pointy-toed shoes, but have only started to really heart lately. I did. Some googling about surgery, but it seems I'd have to get my flat feet corrected, too, or the bunions might just come back. Do you have flat feet, too, Rowan? Have you gotten any orthotics? I really like Brooks Ariel and Addiction running shoes. They're vegan, and are motion control so they keep me from over pronating and putting more pressure on the bunion. (Funny enough, the one on the left looks worse, but the one on the right hurts more).

Interrobang, this is why my mom calls my feet goat hooves. Get your stinking goat hooves off of me! She would usually say that when I asked her to squeeze my feet though. Those corns sound awful!! Can you get mole skin over there, yeah?

_________________I would eat Dr. Cow pocket cheese in a second. I would eat it if you hid it under your hat, or in your backpack, but not if it was in your shoe. That's where I draw the line. -allularpunk

Yep, I got 'em. Nothing helps. Anything that involves something touching my big toe at all while I walk or stand throws my foot off balance, resulting in pain, poor walking, and if I continue that way long enough I sprain my ankles. I actually had to almost entirely stop walking for a year to recover from the most recent injury. I can't wear shoes that press on it, I can't use toe spacers...nothing. I just have to wear really wide shoes (the only vegan ones that even exist seem to be Crocs, so I just wear those all of the time!). And I have to be extra careful how I sleep, because if I even sleep in a position where there's pressure on either of my big toes, I am likely to sprain my ankle in my sleep (dear god I wish I were making this up but it has happened before and it's horrible).

_________________Man, fork the gender card, imma come at you with the whole damned gender deck. - Olives Did you ever think that, like, YOU are a sexy costume FOR a diva cup? - solipsistnationblog!FB!

Why is this embarrassing? I don't mean that against you, sweet Rowan, but I do wonder why stupid feets things seem to be embarrassing in some way. I have a bajillion corns an suchlike just now (one got septic recently, even) and yeah, I find it for some reason embarrassing to talk about. Well, I have worse problems than that going on with my feet just now, but on the corns/callouses/bunions malarky stuff... it feels for some reason embarrassing to talk about. And I don't know why. Why is that?

It is weird that feets things make people so embarrassed. I mean, those things have a lot of stress to deal with all the time, its a wonder they aren't generally worse!

I'm pretty lucky with feet, considering my mom and grandma had/have lots of feet problems. I have annoying feet to shoe, super narrow and big and no arch. Narrow and long probably makes them LOOK even bigger, considering I am rather short (but 8.5-9size is big for 5'3"). I also get numb toes with red sores that are a bit like blisters (may be reynaulds syndrome or however that is spelled). So except for their awkwardly huge appearance, they aren't obviously calloused or whatever.

But anyway, Yeah, maybe we need to get over our weird feet apologies!

_________________Evolved a vascular system, so I went from bryophyte to lycophyte.

Not embarrassing, just painful. I had one on my left foot, I was told by my surgeon that mine was due to having feet that are too flexible. Basically my first metatarsal was "flopping" in and out of joint and that's what caused mine. Running distance may have caused it to form a little faster, but it was probably inevitable. I never have worn narrow shoes or heels.

Mine was painful and getting worse so I opted for surgery. The permanent correction for mine was a Lapidus Fusion. It involved a plate and 5 screws. Basically they fused my 1st metatarsal with the Cuneiform bone behind it by fusing that joint (that's the joint that makes up the arch of your foot). They also cut off the side of the metatarsal that sticks out causing the bump and then severed a ligament between my big toe and 2nd toe in order to allow my big toe to point straight out again.

Recovery was painful, not going to lie or sugar-coat it. But I'm 1.5 years out from surgery and pleased with the results. It took months for all of the scar tissue to break up and I still feel the hardware in my foot. I could have the hardware removed, but that would mean months of no running so I don't want to do that just yet.